M+C Saatchi bolsters Melbourne team with CCO and client partner appointments
M+C Saatchi has promoted Emma Robbins to chief creative officer, Melbourne, and nabbed Thinkerbell’s Louise Rutherford as client partner, as the group looks to strengthen its operations in the city.
Robbins will carry on playing a key part in the national creative leadership of key clients for M+C Saatchi ANZ, while working more closely on the Melbourne market, according to a release on Friday.
She will report to group CCO Steve Coll, who will continue to lead the group around its new global ‘Cultural Power’ proposition. Coll said Robbins’ promotion is an “important part” of the proposition’s development.
“It’s a well-deserved recognition of her incredible talent and exceptional creative leadership,” he said.
Robbins has been with the agency for seven years, first as Melbourne’s ECD, then national ECD. Prior to M+C Saatchi, she spent four years at The Shannon Company, and over a decade at Clemenger BBDO.
Emma Robbins
“Em has had an enormous impact on key clients in her seven year tenure in the agency, particularly in the last few years, where she has led some of the most awarded and effective integrated campaigns in our entire global network,” Coll said in the release.
“This role represents an exciting new chapter in a storied career, and I couldn’t be happier for her. Em is a delight to work with, and a relentless champion of both our creative product and our people.”
The creative landscape is evolving fast, according to Robbins, with new expectations and new pressures. She said she sees this “transformative period” as an opportunity for creativity to “step forward and lead”.
“Being appointed CCO at a time of significant change across the industry feels both exciting and meaningful,” she said in the release.
The agency also welcomed Louise Rutherford as client partner, Melbourne, last month. Rutherford joined from Thinkerbell, where she has spent the past three years working with clients including GWM, Bupa, and Repco.
Prior to that, she held various client partner and account management roles at Wunderman Thompson, TBWA, The Monkeys, and Grey London.
The committment to strengthen operations in Melbourne has been echoed by incoming CEO Dani Bassil. She has earmarked it as a focus upon her arrival this month.
Bassil will, however, also need to prioritise reallocating employees following the loss of one of M+C Saatchi’s biggest clients Optus, a portion of the Woolworths account, and the retirement of its media brand Bohemia. Outgoing APAC CEO Justin Graham will help her with the transition through the month of August.
M+C Saatchi had worked with Optus for eight years, building out a bespoke agency called Yes to service it. In June, it was confirmed the account would change hands to Accenture Song and Droga5.
It also had a bespoke agency, Greenhouse Collective, servicing the Everyday Rewards portfolio, part of the Woolworths Group. TBWA recently won the pitch for the account, marking the first time it is separate to the Woolworths brand. M+C Saatchi is still the lead agency on Woolworths.
Meanwhile, the Bohemia brand has been sunsetted as part of a global media strategy restructure. Global CEO Zaid Al-Qassab said the agency’s focus is on areas where it can “lead with a truly differentiated offering”, and Bohemia no longer met that criteria. It has subsequently farewelled clients including Fever-Tree Australia, Nando’s, and Australian Retirement Trust.
Keep up to date with the latest in media and marketing
Got a tip?
Lauren McNamara was the associate editor at Mumbrella. She joined in November 2022 as editorial assistant, after completing a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) at UTS. She left Mumbrella in August 2025.
Linkedin
Let’s talk about the number of people made redundant in the last month.
Not Emma’s fault,but surely just as newsworthy as her trajectory.
User ID not verified.
Have your say